Messing with “Messiah”: Handel’s oratorio re-imagined for a more inclusive world – The Bowdoin Orient

“‘[Messiah. Multiplied.], like so much of Classical Uprising’s work, is inspired by a belief that classical music must rise up, challenge current norms and re-envision where, how and for whom we are making music,’ Isaacson wrote in her program notes. The project is directly derived from Handel’s original oratorio, but changes the order of the movements and modifies pronouns used for Messiah and God from ‘he’ to ‘we.’ To the audience and the musicians alike, the modifications aimed to be freeing rather than disarming. The seemingly simple changes acknowledge a version of Handel that resists heteronormative rhetoric and invites a more inclusive interpretation of the work, according to Isaacson.”